Live 2.0 Edition 5: Innovation Beats a Bad Economy

We hope you enjoy the Innovation Beats a Bad Economy Edition of Live 2.0.

This month’s Edition features:

Innovating Through Programming by Sandy Matke

Innovation in Promotion: Using a Live Event to Sell a Live Event with Jim Royce

Innovation in Marketing Baseball: From All-you-can-eat Pavilions to Tiki Huts by Jason Dietz

Innovation in Selling Tupperware with a Live Event…Yes, Really with Dee W. Ieye

Innovating Through Programming by Sandy Matke

Sandy Matke is Goldstar’s Editorial Director.

In a challenging economy, as arts organizations compete for audiences, making smart choices in programming is more important than ever. Audiences are still coming out, but their behavior is changing in some key ways. They are being more selective about which shows they see, they’re often waiting to buy closer to the show date, and they’re generally taking fewer risks with the types of shows they purchase.

Organizations nationwide are responding in a variety of ways, including changing their pricing structures, offering add-ons or extras and making programming adjustments that set their shows apart from others or simply offer a much-needed laugh.

At La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts in California, they braced for lower sales in light of the economy, but were happily surprised when people came out in stronger numbers than in previous years. “You’d think we often get disposable income dollars, but maybe that’s not the case,” says Brian Kite, producing artistic director. “Maybe people do find it a little more essential than we believed.”

La Mirada’s last season featured shows that have mass appeal, like the Johnny Cash musical “Ring of Fire,” “Tuna Does Vegas,” which has the popularity of 30 years of Greater Tuna shows behind it, and “Happy Days the Musical.” “These were shows that allowed people to escape for a bit,” says Kite, who hits on an interesting question: In these challenging times, are people looking for escape?

SF Playhouse may be a case in point. Just before the presidential election last year, in the midst of a deepening financial crisis, SF Playhouse opened its sixth season to half-full houses. “People were not going out of their homes,” says the playhouse’s producing director, Susi Damilano. However, as soon as elections were over, attendance levels returned to normal.

“That is,” says Damilano, “until January when we presented a very grim play that took place in the late 70s and was full of depressing news. For that show, houses shrank again and we realized that what we all crave right now is some good news.” It was then that SF Playhouse started planning a more upbeat seventh season with the theme: “The Power of Laughter.” Their currently-running comedy, “Dead Man’s Cell Phone,” has been sold out every night and has received critical success.

But lighthearted is not the approach everyone is taking. Janette Andrawes, marketing director for American Conservatory Theater (ACT) in San Francisco, says that her organization doesn’t believe people are looking specifically for lighthearted shows. “What we’re finding is that people want exceptional production values,” says Andrawes. “You can even see that with what’s won Tonys and even the Bay Area Critic’s Circle — it’s not necessarily the lighthearted things. People will go see a longer show of substance if it’s really well done.”

With that in mind, ACT plans to draw audiences in next season by offering a unique experience they can get nowhere else. The show – really a multimedia event — is called “A Brief Encounter,” and it’s direct from an award-winning run in London. The theater space will transport audiences to romantic old Britain, where talented actors will perform against a backdrop of a movie screen playing Noel Coward’s “A Brief Encounter.” Andrawes says that in programming, the staff at ACT ask themselves one important question: “What is something we can offer the Bay Area that they can’t find anywhere else?”

Likewise, at La Mirada they’re looking to balance out their array of popular musicals with some less commonly known pieces that could draw in new and younger audiences. So they’re taking 250 of their 1,250 seats and placing them on the stage to create an intimate space for a new theater series. “This is a deliberate attempt to bring in new audiences and try some different programming that we can’t risk doing in the larger space,” says Kite.

At New York’s Jazz at Lincoln Center, Sara Villagio, assistant director of marketing and creative services, says they too are programming a mix of the larger, more popular works and other pieces that they believe do a good job of furthering the goals of their mission.

Jazz at Lincoln Center does many things to add to the allure of their shows, including offering free pre-concert lectures, food and beverage tastings and more. “It’s a great marketing platform to tie into the concert themes,” she says. For example, last November they held a “Thelonious Monk Festival” and sampled tastes of North Coast Brewery’s Thelonious Ale, while their in-house catering company served samples from their jazz club. “Our audience responds well to these promotions and appreciates the opportunity to experience a different side of the art form – the culture, food and story behind it,” says Villagio.

Using add-ons and extras to draw patrons in is becoming an increasingly popular strategy in the current economy. “Now, more than ever, it’s important to add value to people’s experiences by giving them more for their money and by really making people feel like we care about their business,” says Robert Sweibel, director of marketing and communications for Berkeley Repertory Theatre. His organization will be continuing the programs they already have in place, which include tastings programs for the weekends, docent presentations, parties and more.

At New York’s Second Stage Theatre, they’re offering a free ticket to renewing subscribers so they can bring a friend or give it away as a gift. They’ve also partnered with some local businesses to get free items to give away at subscriber events. “We don’t go overboard with bells and whistles to our subscriptions,” says marketing associate Hector Coris. “Our choice of programming speaks for itself, and we have a very high number of renewals.”

In fact, Coris says they’re not changing their programming at all in view of current economic conditions. “We have a winning formula and we stick to it: great plays, great playwrights, high-quality productions and talent.”

Across the board, programming directors agree that high quality trumps all. But beyond that, each audience is different, and organizations nationwide find their own solutions to what people are looking for. Some are looking for escape and laughter. Some are looking for a one-of-a-kind experience. There is, however, one consistent truth nationwide: family shows sell.

“Families are always putting their children first and not depriving their children of stuff,” says Sweibel. At Berkeley Rep’s school of theatre, class enrollments are up.

Likewise, at ACT, family programming is a big hit. Their December run of “A Christmas Carol” was a smash. “When you have family programming, people are really willing to spend their money and their time because they feel like it’s a rewarding shared event with their family.”

Rick Berubé, director of marketing and communications for Brooklyn Center for the Performing Arts, says that his organization was more successful with family-friendly performances than with those intended for adults, and that popular titles like “Annie” and “To Kill a Mockingbird” were big sellers, whereas less familiar artists like Australia’s Expressions Dance Company were lesser hits. “In general,” says Berubé, “I think fewer people took chances.” Because of a decline in attendance for contemporary/modern dance events, they’ve scaled back their dance series from six events to two, and only one of them could be described as contemporary.

Though Brooklyn Center for the Performing Arts achieved nearly 90% of their paid attendance goal, they did feel a financial impact based on the buying choices consumers were making. Events with higher ticket prices ($40 or more) did not sell as well as anticipated, while events with lower ticket prices sold better than anticipated. In response, for the 2009-10 season, they’ve eliminated their two highest price points and have reduced the price of one of their most popular subscription series (theater). “We want our audiences to know that they are important to us and that we are aware of the financial challenges they are facing,” says Berubé.

Brooklyn Center is certainly not alone in making pricing changes in the current economy. At La Mirada, they’ve expanded their two-tier seating structure to three tiers, which enables them to offer both a lower and a higher priced ticket than they did in the past. Interestingly, people are still generally buying into the higher priced ticket. “The smaller, more elite we make our main section, the more people who buy immediately into that section,” says Kite.

In addition to pricing changes, La Mirada is also working directly with artists who present single-night events at the theater to try to get more opportunities for audience members to meet and mingle with the artists. This will enable them to sell a VIP section for those events — just another way to add value to the patron’s experience.

Like La Mirada, organizations nationwide are finding ways to add to the live experience in an economic climate where people are being careful about their spending. The good news is that people do clearly value live entertainment, and they’re making it a priority in their lives. But they are looking for value, and each organization is finding their own way to deliver the goods.

Berkeley Rep’s Robert Sweibel says it well. “Our audience expects us to do work that is intelligent and adventurous and ambitious, and we’re always going to do that, even in difficult economic times,” says Sweibel. “That said, we also know that people appreciate a good laugh and a little music, and you’ll find some of that in our programming. Maybe a bit more than you would have last season. Without ever compromising our values.”

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Innovation in Promotion: Using a Live Event to Sell a Live Event

An Interview with Jim Royce of Center Theater Group

Jim Royce is the Director of Marketing, Communications, and Sales at Center Theater Group.

Live 2.0: We’re talking about how innovation can be used to counter negative economic conditions and we were fascinated by the launch event that you did for the onsale of “Spamalot.” We characterized it as using a live event to promote a live event. For those who weren’t there or aren’t familiar, can you describe the event for us?

JR: Sure. We took advantage of the theme of a show that we have coming up – “Spamalot” – which has had an enormously popular run on Broadway, and is a very irreverent, Monty Python style show, and is in fact based on Monty Python. What we did was we took the style of the show and matched it to an event that we felt would be both provocative and attention getting and could generate some sales.

So we figured, “Gee, April Fool’s is coming up,” and we took advantage of the April Fool’s date. We didn’t use any members of the cast. We sort of employed people from our own department who had a Monty Python sense of humor and took advantage of their own wackiness and silliness and just grabbed some attention.

L2: So how was it received?

JR: It was received extremely well. It was an onsale event where we encouraged people to come down to the box office of the Ahmanson Theatre, and we had a nice little line around the block. Even though we’re in Los Angeles, rarely do you ever get anybody to come down and line up at a box office because most of the action takes place on the phone or online. But in this case, we set up an environment where if you came down, you could also do a Bunny Toss…

L2: A killer Bunny toss, I trust.

JR: And a Cow Toss. We put people in stocks. We invited Allie from KTLA 5 to come down and do a televised event. We played a bunch of tricks with her, and got Eric Idle to wake up early in the morning and come down and help salute the onsale event.

L2: You got a good turnout. What were the keys to that?

JR: As I recall, we had about 250 people lining up at the box office. The sales that day were terrific. We did about $45,000 that day, which is a nice day for us. Pretty signficant, especially for a show that was 3 months out. We rarely ever put a show on sale 3 months out.

But it was able to give a nice kick-off for a series of TV promotions that ended the week, which ended up at more like $100,000.

L2: Was it expensive to produce?

JR: Not really. It was more in people’s time, and that’s the important part is getting a crew of people organized whether you pay them or they volunteer, and get a sense of community and energy and pride in putting it together.

L2: How can others apply what you did to their own shows?

JR: For any show, the thing is to look at the show’s assets, whether there’s a pedigree to the title of the show or performers in the show that can lend an asset to a sales effort, or if there’s a thematic asset that can be exploited.

Certainly, in terms of comedy, that’s an easy asset to take advantage of. If you have a musical comedy or even just a musical, take advantage of the music, of a comic line or an absurdity.

And especially in our case, it was a great occasion to poke fun, not only at ourselves, but other people like to be poked fun at as well.

When we put “9 to 5″ on sale with Dolly Parton, it was a terrific opportunity to use a talent of her stature, where the show didn’t have any other asset besides an iconic song and movie, and a superstar composer who was not going to be in the show. But we tried to take full advantage of Dolly’s personality, and that certainly worked on that show, as well.

L2: What else would you say to someone who’d like to do a similar thing? How would they put it together?

JR: It doesn’t always have to be a live event. You could put together an online event that has some character to it, some frivolity to it; it can be a promotion that’s a one day or one week promotion that can be a contest, or it can be tied into a radio station or even a newspaper. If you can find a hook that’s inside the show that has a temporary interest, like an April Fool’s Day hook with a comedy show or a hook that has a temporary interest in a piece of music that people want to hear over and over again for a short period of time.

When we did “Avenue Q” here a few years ago, we had all the puppet characters show up in the classified section of the LA Weekly and then we ran a contest that if you could find all the characters, you won a prize.

The other thing, too, is if you can create a cartoon around some characters, and it doesn’t always work with every production, but you can take lines from a show or characters from the show and invent relationships between that character and members of the public and do it in a cartoony way.

Whatever’s fun and attention-grabbing is the object of the exercise.

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Innovation in Marketing Baseball: From All-you-can-eat Pavilions to Tiki Huts by Jason Dietz

Jason Dietz is the co-founder of Metacritic.com, and still thinks Tommy Lasorda should have intentionally walked Jack Clark.

Sections 51 and 53 at Dodger Stadium are no baseball fan’s vision of ideal seating. Situated just inside fair territory by the left field foul pole, the seats are low, distant, and angled so that viewing the action in the infield requires an awkward head turn. But for a few brief days early in the 2009 season, these two sections became “Mannywood,” named after the Dodgers’ mercurial left fielder, Manny Ramirez. For $99 (99 being Ramirez’s jersey number), fans could get a pair of tickets and two exclusive Mannywood t-shirts. Although the promotion was aborted when the section’s namesake was suspended for violating league drug policy, Mannywood is representative of Major League Baseball’s increasingly innovative approach to selling tickets during challenging economic times.

From the minors to the majors, baseball has a long and storied tradition of giveaways, promotions, and stunts used to sell tickets. Freebies from bobbleheads to caps and enhancements like concerts and fireworks continue to fill the schedules of every major league team. The reason is simple: with 81 home games on the schedule, and stadium capacities that average over 44,000, baseball teams have more seats to sell – and more unsold seats – than virtually anyone in the entertainment business. Even if the Dodgers manage to sell 90% of their tickets to a given game, that leaves 5,600 tickets unsold, amounting to several deserted sections in the ballpark.

And, with the exception of the Boston Red Sox – whose rabid fan base and relatively tiny stadium ensure sellouts – every team in the league has unsold ticket inventory, an ongoing problem that is not helped by the slumping economy. Through June 4, major league attendance is down by over one million tickets (a decline of over 5%) compared to the same point in 2008. Even opening an expensive new stadium – in the past, a guarantee of packed houses – hasn’t helped either New York team avoid an attendance decline. But rather than wait out the downturn, baseball is responding aggressively with a variety of new approaches to boosting ticket sales.

An obvious response to the recession might be to lower ticket prices. Although a few teams, such as the San Francisco Giants, have done so – and many others have eliminated price increases or introduced a limited number of low-price tickets – many teams have instead opted to boost the perceived value of their tickets. One way of doing so is selling ticket packages that include food and souvenirs in addition to admission, for a price lower than if items were purchased separately. Teams like the Kansas City Royals take this a step further by selling discounted “loaded-value” game tickets that can be redeemed for $10 worth of concessions, with the goal to encourage further concession sales. On the high end, Boston sells deluxe ticket packages aimed at visiting fans. Running over $1,000 per person, they include lodging, limousine transportation to the ballpark, and a private bartender during the game.

The pinnacle of all-inclusive seating is the all-you-can-eat section. Pioneered by the Dodgers during the 2007 season and now employed by almost half of major league teams, the concept is simple: convert a remote section of the stadium – typically in the outfield bleachers or upper deck – into a two-hour-plus smorgasbord. For ticket prices ranging from $25-$70, customers can gorge themselves on typical ballpark fare like hot dogs, nachos and sodas for no additional charge. These all-you-can-eat sections have been a hit with fans and ballclubs, and are representing a growing share of ticket inventory. The St. Louis Cardinals now have five such sections in the outfield alone, differing in the types of foods offered (think BBQ beef and baked beans) and amenities provided (free beer!).

Teams are finding other ways to transform some of their least desirable inventory into something of greater value for fans. Mannywood and the similar “Cody’s Crew” section in Florida (named after the Marlins’ lesser-known but suspension-free outfielder Cody Ross) are examples of attempts to assign an air of exclusivity to what otherwise would be considered average seats. These sections need not be associated with an athlete to have value for fans; the Red Sox can charge premium prices for seating atop the “Green Monster” simply because of its unusual nature and the limited number of seats there.

Of course, not every stadium can build a 37-foot wall in left field. But teams can replace some of their less-desirable seating with higher-value amenities. From Seattle to the Bronx, all recently-constructed baseball stadiums have fewer ordinary outfield seats. Instead, a portion of the area behind the outfield fence is occupied by restaurants and bars. These facilities serve not just as pre- and post-game gathering spots, but also as unique reserved seating areas with amenities unavailable to other stadium guests outside of the luxury boxes. Nationals Park in Washington, D.C., sells “Red Porch” and “Red Loft” seating that offers close proximity to the stadium’s restaurant and open-air bar, respectively, while in Seattle, fans can purchase game seats directly inside Safeco Field’s Hit it Here Café and enjoy seared salmon with three-cheese polenta cakes while watching the Mariners. Detroit’s Comerica Park uses many of its more remote seating areas as picnic and party areas for groups, some complete with picnic tables and umbrellas. No team has yet duplicated the Arizona Diamondbacks’ center-field configuration, however, which boasts a suite with a swimming pool and spa.

The Dodgers, meanwhile, have replaced Mannywood with a new section that combines exclusivity with all-inclusive value. “Bleacher Beach” is neither in the bleachers nor anywhere near the ocean, but for every Sunday afternoon home game at Dodger Stadium, that title is given to perhaps the least desirable seats in the stadium, a distant corner of an upper deck that is typically the last area in the stadium to sell. This private, beach-themed “party area” is decorated with faux lifeguard towers, tiki huts and spray misters, while a DJ spins tunes throughout the game. For a $45 ticket, fans receive an all-you-can-eat beach-themed buffet (including BBQ burgers and watermelon slices) and a beach bag or floppy hat. The same tickets on a different day of the week go for $20.

Not all new strategies are aimed at low-end tickets. The Houston Astros, Chicago White Sox, and a handful of other teams have turned to online auctions as a way of maximizing revenue from their premier seating. These teams typically auction off packages that include a luxury suite or front-row tickets. The Red Sox, however, are the sole team to solicit bidding on standing-room-only tickets, albeit ones atop the Green Monster. The Cleveland Indians even see pregame batting practice as a revenue producer. The team offers a premium add-on known as “Batting Practice XTRA” which promises on-field access before the game for an “XTRA” $100 per person.

Intriguingly, the Giants alone among major league teams have begun to employ a new strategy aimed at maximizing revenue from their cheapest seats. Known as dynamic variable pricing, this technique employs patent-pending technology from a company called Qcue to change pricing in real time based on current market conditions. The software dynamically adjusts the prices of designated outfield and upper deck seats by 25 cents to $2 based on how well or how poorly they are selling. The experiment seems to be a success in the early going, with sales in these sections up an average of 500 tickets per game compared to 2008.

Many clubs attempt to encourage repeat business and unload excess inventory by offering last-minute “E-Saver” discounts via weekly email newsletters sent to fans who sign up at the teams’ websites. But teams are also seeking to broaden their audience by attracting first-time or infrequent fans. Women are a common target of promotions, with events like women-only wine-tasting nights in Minnesota, “Stitch ‘n’ Pitch” nights in Milwaukee and Toronto, and Pittsburgh’s “Lady Bucs Club” with private pre-game parties for members on select dates. The Blue Jays literally seek first-time customers during its “Babies at the Ballpark” nights, with a special section offering stroller parking and free diapers and wipes. A handful of clubs are even hoping to expand their customer base to the furry and four-legged; Atlanta offers a “Bark in the Park” night, and Oakland and Texas, too, offer a date where dogs (and their owners) are welcome.

Other teams have opted to partner with nearby entertainment venues to offer special values for fans. The Atlanta Braves offer a variety of multi-venue ticket packs that include admission to a Braves game plus local amusements like Stone Mountain Park and the Georgia Aquarium. The Houston Astros have a similar partnership with the House of Blues’ Gospel Brunch, while Milwaukee teams up with the Harley-Davidson Museum. And some teams have borrowed promotional ideas from amusement parks; like Disneyland, Atlanta, Baltimore and Pittsburgh each offer fans free admission on their birthday.

At various times during his legendary tenure as a team owner, Bill Veeck attempted to boost attendance with gimmicks like suiting up a midget, offering fans a chance to call plays, using fluorescent baseballs, and dressing his team in shorts. But Veeck also encouraged a fan-first attitude wherever he went, and was rewarded with record attendance levels when he owned the White Sox. While some of today’s promotional strategies may prove just as evanescent (if not quite as bizarre) as some of Veeck’s stunts, others may improve the game for both fans and the clubs.

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Innovation in Selling Tupperware with a Live Event…Yes, Really

Dee W. Ieye is the #1 Tupperware Consultant in all of North America, largely on the strength of her ticketed live performances which double as real Tupperware parties. So we dropped this sweet blonde bombshell a line about her continued success even in a down economy.

Here’s what she had to say about what has made her innovative Tupperware Shows and Parties such a bit hit, despite the tough times:

“Everyone needs to maximize their grocery dollar in today’s economy. Tupperware keeps your food fresher LONGER. No waste. I mean who wants their cucumber to go limp! Tupperware’s exceptional reputation and my down home charm and girl next door looks keeps my Tupperware business THRIVING in a down economy. $20,000 in average monthly sales keeps me at the top of the sales chart!!!!”

http://www.my.tupperware.com/kevinfarrell

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